Hidden Seed
by Ai and Wa
Summary: Chapter 4 up! Sakura was hiding her pass and her secret from everyone else. However, her secret was revealed when she went back to her village on a mission. Was she one of the Hidden Seed? SakuSasu pairing.
1. Childhood Dreams

Disclaimer: This is a fanfiction dedicated to the anime/manga Naruto, I do not own Naruto.

**The Hidden Seed**

Written By: Wa, Edited and revised by: Ai

Chapter1: Childhood Dreams

The little pink haired girl watched the crowds come and go. Her mother had put her into her favorite outfit today, a red top with a brown skirt and a little bag that had a panda face on it. The pink hair girl sat on a bench in the park with her back up straight as she waited for her mother to come back to pick her up. She made a promise with Sakura that she will be back after three minutes; Sakura believed her. So she had been waiting for her mom patiently; however, half an hour had already passed by and Sakura still saw no sign of her mother. She was getting scared, but she never showed it on her face. Her mother had told her never to show her fear in front of people. 

People in the Konoha village stared at her strangely as they have never seen such an adorable little girl in the village before. That indeed was true, she and her mother had come from another village that is within the fire country. Everybody from her village knew that her mom was the strongest priest in her village. Sakura was so happy today when she heard that her mother was bringing her out of village and to play in Konoha. But after her mom had disappeared her excitement fell. The five-years-old Sakura looked at her watch. It was already five o'clock in the afternoon and her mother still hadn't come to get her.

"Hello, are you lost child?" Ms Haruno said with concern in her eyes as she saw Sakura sitting on the bench.

"No." Sakura was a bit nervous, she remembered that her mom had told her not to talk to strangers.

"Why are you sitting here alone? Where are your parents?" Ms Haruno asked softly.

"Mom said she will come and pick me up." Sakura said.

"How long has she been gone?"

"Mom promised to come and get me!" Sakura almost shouted, this woman in front of her was making her nervous. 

__

Mom promised, she said she would pick me up and go home with me. Why isn't she here yet? What did I do wrong? Is it because I won't study the things that she wanted me to do? Sakura gasped as tears slowly blurred her vision.

"Don't worry child, I'm Ms Haruno, would you like me to help you find your mom?" Ms Haruno asked kindly. 

Sakura nodded her head. Ms Haruno gave Sakura her hand. Sakura stood up and took it. Ms Haruno's hand was soft and warm, she also smelled like flowers. They walked down the street of Konoha as Sakura told Ms Haruno about herself.

Sakura's mother was the strongest in the village. She knew little about her father because he died before Sakura was born. Her mother was the strongest Priestess in her little village and although she was very busy with her duties, she always spent time with Sakura and played with her.

Ms Haruno brought Sakura to the 3rd Hokage. After a day of walking around Konoha village, they still couldn't find Sakura's mother. Sakura started crying half way, and now she had gone to sleep in Ms Haruno's arms. The Hokage considered the situation, and he decided that it was the best for Ms Haruno to take care of Sakura right now until her mother comes back to get her back.

After some time of adjustment, Sakura had finally felt comfortable living with Ms Haruno. On the day that Mr Haruno had come back from his business trip, he was surprised to find out about Sakura. In fact, Mister and Missis Haruno was a married couple who couldn't have a child. 

"What's your name?" 

"Sakura." She said almost in a whisper.

"I'm Mr Haruno, my wife has asked me to fix the air conditioning in your room Sakura. Would you like to be my assistant?" His voice was very gentle, just like Ms Haruno.

"Okay!" Sakura smiled, and he patted her softly on her head.

****

2 years later…

Sakura was now in her second year of ninja elementary school, her friend Ino-chan was sitting beside her. The teacher was now passing back their test.

"Haruno Sakura." The teacher called from the desk. Sakura stood up and took the test paper. She got perfect as Ino had expected.

"Sakura-chan got perfect again on the test?" one of her classmate asked.

"Yes." Sakura said happily.

"Why are you always getting high marks? You want to be noticed by Sasuke-kun and take him away from us, don't you!" that girl was a bit upset.

"Hey! Sakura-chan gets high marks because she studies hard. Who care's about that Sasuke boy?" Ino stood in front of Sakura and shouted at that girl.

"Thank you Ino-chan." Sakura gave Ino a faint smile as she followed Ino out of the classroom.

"No problem. But hey Sakura-chan, tell me, are you really going after Sasuke-kun?" Ino asked as if she didn't care about Sasuke. 

"No…I was just thinking that…if I don't get high marks, maybe my parents won't want me anymore." Sakura said.

Ino stared at her, and ended up laughing hard. Sakura stared back in confusion.

"Sakura-chan, what were you thinking? Of course you parents would still want you even if you get a bad mark on the test. After all it's just a test. You are their daughter, they love you, you are more valuable to them than marks."

"……." Sakura stayed in silent while Ino was still laughing. That secret she kept away from everyone…she didn't want to be left out anymore. 

****

6 years later(after the chunnin exam)…

"Sasuke-kun, how about a date?" Sakura ask, excited. This was just like every normal day after a mission.

"You are even weaker than Naruto. Instead of wasting your time on some date thing, why don't you put your time more into training." Sasuke replied curtly.

"Sakura-chan, would you like to train with me?" Naruto asked, smiling sheepishly. 

"NO!" Sakura stuck her tongue out at Naruto.

She walked away from Naruto, and started walking home. She was a bit taken back by Sasuke's words. That was why she didn't wait for him to leave first. She didn't want to be physically strong because it reminded her of her mother too much. Between physical strength and intelligence, she chooses intelligence instead and Sasuke would never understand why.

It was days later that she discovered something that would change her destiny. The night before, Kakashi sensei told her team that they had to pack their belongings because there would be a field trip tomorrow. She did as she was told, the team was on time at the meeting place, except of course for Kakashi sensei.

"As I said, we would be gone for two or three days because for this new mission, we have to travel to another village." Kakashi sensei started unrolling the mission scroll that was given to him. 

"Our destination is the 'Hidden Seed Village'. It's a bit far away from Konoha but we'll get there by midnight if we keep up with the speed."

As soon as Sakura heard the word Hidden Seed, her head shot up as her gaze was met by her teacher. _That was where I came from…Father and mother tried to search for my real Mother there. But they said that they couldn't find her. I didn't bother to search for her either…I was so afraid that I would be alone again._

"Sakura." Sakura heard someone say her name and she was pulled back into reality. It was Kakashi who was calling her, and her two teamates were staring at her.

"Oops sorry, I wasn't paying attention."

"Anyway, our mission is to bring something from Hidden Seed and deliver it back to Konoha. If everything is settled, then we will leave immediately."

"Okay, let's go!" Naruto shouted.

And so, the four ninjas jumped and disappeared.

TBC…

Author Notes: Hello I'm Wa, and this is the first time that I wrote a Naruto fanfic. If anything sound stupid here please, excuse me. I'm not that good in writing or describing something, but I love it. Therefore, please give me some review and comments. Lastly, give yourself credit for reading this author notes.


	2. The Broken Seal

Disclaimer: This is a fanfiction dedicated to the anime/manga Naruto, I do not own Naruto.

****

Hidden Seed

Written by: Wa, edited & Revised by: Ai

Chapter 2: The Broken Seal

They arrived in Hidden Seed during the evening. They were expected to be late, but they were three hours early and so they decided to tour around the village. People on the street stared at the four of them, especially at Sakura. Her pink hair stood out the most, and it was not just that. Her face looked just like her mother. 

"Why are all these people staring at us?" Naruto asked. He was feeling uncomfortable.

"Ignore it." Kakashi felt it too, but he couldn't understand the reason why people were staring at them like that.

Then an old woman was pushed around and into Sakura. Sakura held on to the old lady to prevent her from falling. The old lady was surprised to see Sakura's face.

"Oh Hanae, you are back! You don't know how much the village missed you! The village needs your protection." 

Sakura was so shocked that the old lady called her by her real mother's name. She hadn't heard that name after she left the village for so many years. Recovering from the shock, Sakura faced the old lady and told her that she wasn't Hana. 

"You are not? But you looked exactly like her! Your hair and your eyes, even the way you move! You can't trick me! I was the one who looked after Hanae since she was young. If you are not Hanae who are you?"

"I'm Haruno from the Hidden Leaf village." Sakura just gave the old lady her last name because she didn't want anybody to recognize her.

The old lady looked a bit disappointed, but Sakura left with her team anyway. She wanted to ask the lady if she was really the person who looked after her real mother. But she didn't want anyone to know her secret.

"Gees, that old lady there was truly mad. Who is that Hanae person anyway? Is she that popular here? Is she that strong? Hey, maybe she is a ninja like me!" Naruto asked.

"It could be, but she is probably far more powerful than you." Kakashi teased, while reading his Come Come Paradise book.

"I'm going to be recognized by Konoha someday!" 

Sakura stared at Naruto. _He is always getting so excited towards these things_. She looked over to Sasuke's side he was just being cool as always. 

__

But that is weird, that old lady. If she watched over my mother since she was little, she should be able to tell that I'm not her. My real mother used to tell me that I have the colour of my father's eyes. Even our age is different…maybe she knows who I am already.

After that little walk around the village, they settled down at an Inn. That night Sakura couldn't sleep. She kept on thinking about that incident of the old lady running into her. _There must be something that she wants with me…_ Sakura was changing into her pajamas. As she folded her Chinese dress, a bracelet fell out of her dress. Round little crystal stones were put together to form that bracelet and within each crystal stone there was a symbol of some sort. Sakura widened her eyes as she recognized each symbol that was flowing in the crystal. Those were the symbols that her mother used to make her memorize when she was young. She put the bracelet on, and at the moment, she could feel power flowing within her. 

The seal was broken.

She changed back into her normal clothes and ran out of her room. She didn't know why, but she felt an urge to meet the old lady again. She must have been the one who put the bracelet in her dress's pocket. Sakura was confused…

After she left the building, she found that the old lady she met a couple of hours ago was standing outside the inn, under the tree waiting for her. The old woman smiled at Sakura as she walked towards her.

"It looks like that you have already figured out that I know you are not Hanae. And it looks like the seal has been broken already."

"Who are you? And what seal has been broken?" Sakura asked.

"My name is Kicha. I was the one who trained Hanae in the years of her priestess learning. The seal I was talking about, I believe that your mother gave that to you when you were born. Unzip your zipper on your shirt and look at your back." Kicha took out a small mirror from her pocket.

Sakura unzipped a bit of her dress and put her hand on her back, it was a bit similar to the position where Sasuke got the cursed seal, but hers was more on her back. She turned her head and saw the seal that was on her. It was the shape of a flower with four petals. 

"It wasn't there before…" Sakura said, surprised to see the tattoo like seal on her back. 

"It was invisible before, but it appears right after it's activated by the calling of the bracelet."

Sakura zipped back her dress.

"You know my mother…then tell me! Why did she leave me there in Hidden Leaf and gave me that seal you were talking about?" Sakura asked.

"Calm down child, I know that you have many questions, but first I have to give you something that is very important to that seal."

"Hanae must have taught you how to read the priest seal symbols right? Only you could have seen the symbols on that bracelet, because Hanae used her blood to write those symbols there and sealed it so that only a blood related person could see those symbols. Now listen carefully and remember each word that I'm telling you. The symbols that you saw there, is actually a hidden hand seal. It is a very dangerous jutsu and only the heir of the Hidden Seed priestess can perform and learn it. In order to perform the hand seal, you have to know how to read each symbol. Now follow my instructions and perform that hand seal." 

Kicha started moving her hand, and performed each hand seal. It was a very complicated hand seal. There were five parts of it, each divided into different power levels. As soon as she finished learning the hand seal, Kicha explained to her about the difference between a priestess jutsu and nin jutsu. A priest drains power not from their chakra in their own body, but rather from the world outside. They used their chakra to seek the powers that were out there, and the powers are divided into the five elements: Earth, Air, Fire, Water and Akasha. 

"Kicha-san, after all this time, do you know where my mother is right now?" Sakura asked.

"No…she said that she was leaving the village with you. After she left with you that day, she came back to the village in a hurry and gone again. No one knows where she is now."

"So she left me there on purpose…she didn't want me from the beginning."

"Sakura, I believe that you don't know that a priestess is banned from getting married." Kicha expression changed.

"What?" 

"They are the symbol of purity in the village. Once a priestess gives birth to a child, they are banned to be a priestess ever again. Hanae knew the rules too well, she was lonely and getting tired of them. Then one day she met this great man that is from a small clan in the Hidden Leaf Village. They felt in love, as if it was inevitable. Unfortunately, your father died in one of his ninja missions…he was unable to see you coming into this world." Kicha said. 

Sakura listened silently.

"Hanae knew that the village would find out about your presence after three months, so she moved away and hid from the village for two years. Afterwards she brought you back saying that you were the daughter of a far away cousin that she had. By giving you the seal, she was able to cover the inherited power that is within you."

"Do you know who my father was?" Sakura asked, holding her hands up on her chest.

"He was an Elite Ninja from Hidden Leaf, an intelligent young man dedicating his life to the village. Your mother didn't tell me anything about his family, I only know that his last name is Chiba." 

__

Chiba…my family name. Sakura closed her eyes, trying to imagine him and her real mother standing together. How wonderful it would be, if they were there when Sakura needed them. When she was being bullied around and when she was feeling lonely, she imagined her real father holding her left hand and her real mother holding her right hand. They walked happily home together…but that picture slowly faded in her mind.

"Thank you for telling me about my real mother and father. I remember you telling me that this village needed my mother's protection. But I'm not my mother, I'm not a priestess, I am a ninja from Hidden Leaf." Sakura was determined.

Kicha stared at her for a minute or so, her face relaxed after a second or two, and she smiled at Sakura in agreement.

"But I have just one more question though…why did you call me Hanae on the street even though you knew that I'm not mother?"

"It's pathetic. Even though that I knew you weren't her, I just lied to myself that you are Hanae. You two looked too alike."

"Oh…well, goodbye." Sakura said, she turned and left without looking back.

__
    
    I've made up my mind already, just like my childhood dreams. I wanted intelligence more than physical strength I want to be a Ninja more than being a Priestess. Even if people doubt me and tell me what I should do¾
    I have my own way of Ninja.
    
    TBC…

Name meaning:

Haruno Sakura = Spring Cherry blossom

Chiba Sakura = Thousand-leaf Cherry blossom

Chiba Hanae = Thousand-leaf flower-branch

Kicha = Happy tea

Author notes: Sorry for the late update, I finished writing this chapter long time ago. But I needed it to be proved read so I had to wait. Also, I made those priests jutsu up, so if it doesn't sound realistic to you, please don't flame me. Sorry if this story is complicated but this is how my brain works, I like to think of complex things. Thank you for giving me nice reviews for the pervious chapter. And yes, give yourself credit again if you are reading this author note.


	3. Hidden Seed no Jutsu

Disclaimer: This is a fanfiction dedicated to the anime/manga Naruto, I do not own Naruto.

****

Hidden Seed

Written by: Wa, edited & revised by: Ai

Chapter 3: Hidden Seed no jutsu

Sakura woke up in her room. She held up her arm and saw that the bracelet was still here. She knew that it was not a dream. Everything was true; her real name was Chiba Sakura. After she was done cleaning up, she packed her belongings and went to meet her team.

Sasuke and Naruto were already there waiting for Kakashi. Sakura walked up to Naruto and Sasuke and did her greetings. Then Naruto noticed something shiny on Sakura's arm.

"Sakura-chan, what's that? I don't recall you wearing that yesterday." Naruto asked.

"Oh it's just a new bracelet that I got from shopping yesterday. Isn't it pretty?"

"OF COURSE!" Naruto yelled. Sasuke who was standing beside them just kept his cool and watched.

"Hello everybody, are you already for your mission?" Kakashi sensei finally decided to show up.

"Yes I'm already!" Naruto yelled.

They arrived at the Hidden Seed Headquarters, there they found the Minister of Hidden Seed standing there holding a wooded craved box. 

"You must be the ninjas from Hidden Leaf. Here's what I need you four to escort. This used to belong to our high priestess Hanae. It was said that this bracelet contains a powerful weapon, so many enemies are after it. After speaking with the Hokage, our village thinks that it's best to put it under the protection of the Hidden Leaf." The Minister's eyes widened when he saw Sakura.

__

The bracelet of Hanae…then what is that on my hand?

"Oh so that Hanae person is a priestess after all. I still think that Ninjas are more cool!" Naruto talked to himself.

"Child, may I know your name please?" The Minister suddenly asked, directing the question to Sakura. She already knew that was coming.

"I'm Haruno, how do you do?" She bowed.

"What is your whole name?" He spotted the bracelet on her arm.

"Haruno Sakura." She looked up.

"………." Minister was still staring at her.

"What's the matter Old man?" Naruto asked. Kakashi and Sasuke were just staring.

"Nothing, it's just that she looks like someone that I knew who disappeared a long time ago."

After they said their good byes to the minister, they started going home. 

"This village is so weird, they must have bad memories for recognizing people." Naruto complained.

"It's okay Naruto…" Sakura said. _I can understand why. But I can't figure out why Kicha gave me the bracelet, and then the Minister gave us another one. If it's an important thing, shouldn't it be kept carefully? Or maybe they want to make a decoy out of it?_

They continued on with their journey, it wasn't until midnight that enemies started attacking. Sakura and her team immediately jumped up from their sleeping bags and searched for their kunais before standing together to form their attacking formation. The enemies looked like they were ninjas from another country. Sakura couldn't tell since they were all masked. They started attacking them. Kakashi took one down easily, but there were five more to go. Naruto used his shadow clone, Sasuke was using his sharigan and Sakura was standing behind them. She was being protected.

However, the enemies broke their standing formation and now Sakura is alone facing an enemy. Her teammates were busy fighting the other enemies. She shot a death glare to the masked enemy, her enemy struck, and she held out her kunais trying to block the attack. 

"You are the ones who are after the bracelet!?" Naruto asked.

"Not quite." The dark masked man who was standing in front of Sakura replied him.

"Then why are you after us? From what I've seen, you guys are not ninjas nor shinobin." Kakashi sensei said.

"They are not?" Sakura asked.

"Even if they are dressed up like one, you can tell from their jutsu…" Kakashi said, then Sakura turned to see the man in front of her starting to perform a hand seal. She read it slowly and she recognized the sequence of it, Earth, Air, Fire, Water and Akasha.

"They are priests!" Sakura said. Then Naruto and Sasuke turned to look at Sakura.

"We are after the Hidden Seed, from the order of the minister, we've come to destroy you." The masked man said.

__

The hidden seed…? Do they mean the one who can perform the hidden seed no jutsu? Sakura thought.
    
    "The minister!? I thought that old man was a good guy!" Naruto yelled, he was being tied up because of that priest jutsu he was not familiar with.

"Naruto!" Sakura shouted.

"If you don't want your comrades to die, put down your weapons." 

They did as the priest said.

__

Why didn't Kakashi sensei fight back? Does this mean that he doesn't know how to fight a priest jutsu? In this case…Sakura gulped and glared at the masked man. _And the minister, he is after me…_

They were all tied down to a tree and couldn't move because of the priest jutsu. The masked man used the element of Earth to tie them up to the tree. The tree branches formed a rope and they were stuck.

"Now I'll finish things off." The masked man held out his rod and in a position close to hitting Sakura on the head.

Then suddenly lighting struck the masked man's rod and injured the masked priest. A woman jumped down from the tree and walked towards them. Everything was dark but Sakura could see her hair, it was pink just like hers. Sakura stared at her, and she stared back at Sakura but she turned around when the masked priest was trying to stand up.

"Hanae, you are finally back." 

Hanae turned and faced the priest. She was a very beautiful woman with long hair tied up in a long ponytail. Her eyes though, were blue and they were cold. She was tall, wearing a top that looked a bit like a kimono but it was sleeveless. And she was wearing a red dress. She looked just like a priestess. 

"You were the one who killed my husband during his mission." Hanae said coldly. Sakura was surprised to hear that. She thought that her real father died because of an accident during his mission. _So the priest was the one who killed him… how could they do that? They are priests, they are supposed to protect people, not kill them. _Sadness flowed in Sakura's eyes, she had never thought of things being this complicated.

"He was the sin who tainted you, that's why the ministry wanted him dead." The masked man smirked.

"Sakura, come up here." Hanae said to Sakura.

She nodded. Remembering the lesson from Kicha, she broke the priest jutsu of the earth element rope. Sakura freed herself and her teammates.

"What was that, the thing you did Sakura-chan?" Naruto was very confused.

"That was the priest jutsu of the earth element. By using the Fire element, I neuturalized the jutsu and freed us." Sakura said.

"What are you hiding from us, Sakura." Sasuke couldn't stand that he was confused since the beginning, and frustrated that he couldn't get rid of the tree branches tying them up.

"……" Sakura looked at Sasuke. She didn't know how to answer his question, but they should know soon enough. 

"Sasuke-kun…" she started. "You wanted to kill your brother because he killed your clan right? I'm doing the same thing right now." 

Sasuke thought all along that taking revenge was the right thing for him. At first he didn't want people to stop him when it was time to kill Itachi. However, when he heard those words coming out from Sakura, he felt something strange.

Then she left them there without saying a word or looking back at them.

She went over to her mother's side and death glared at the masked man.

"This is the man who killed Chiba. Now listen, do the level one seal and attack him, I want to see what you can do." Hanae said.

Sakura gulped. This was like an order telling her to kill someone, but she did it anyway. She did the Earth, Air, Fire, Water and Akasha seal on her hand once. And suddenly the ground started shaking as one of the tree roots came out of the ground and caught the masked priest. Her team was shocked, and her mother was amazed. Although without her supervising, Sakura was able to perform the powerful level one hand seal.

"I see, so the Hidden Seed knows the jutsu already. It must that old Kicha who taught her how to do it. But you know what kid? I know how to do it too" The Priest stood up with his injuries and threw a fireball towards Sakura.

However, he was surprised to see that he only hit a piece of wood. Sakura used the kawarimi no jutsu on the priest.

"Oh did you forget something? My daughter is a Ninja, just like her father!" Hanae smirked at him and stood in front of her daughter. 

Sakura's tears started to form in her eyes. She was so glad that she was recognized as a ninja by her mother. Sakura looked up to her mother since she was little. Sakura felt so proud that she could make connection with her real father as a ninja. With all those years of separation from her mother, Sakura was worried that she wouldn't know how to act in front of her, but now all the problems seemed to fade away. 

"I have no time to waste on you." The masked priest started to perform the forth hidden seed no jutsu hand seal. Sakura and her team could feel his chakra raising.

Suddenly he screamed in pain and blood came out from his mouth.

"Argh… what the!?"

"You must have stolen the bracelet from the minister and practiced the hidden seed no jutsu right?"

He stared at her.

"But the priest symbol you see in the bracelet is not the real seal. Only the person who is related by blood to me can see those words. The ones you've seen are just seals that I've made up. You might feel your power increased after practicing those seals, but that's only because your chakra is running everywhere in your body."

"When you are practicing the fake seal, it requires you to mold your chakra to flow in a different direction. Just like the blood stream that runs through your body. And guess what would happen if your blood stream suddenly flow in another direction? It will hit the blood that is coming from the opposite direction, and you'll die." Hanae said coldly.

But he was unable to hear the last part of it, his breathing stopped. Hanae turned to Sakura.

"That priest… I've been searching for years for them. They were hiding from place to place. They were always after you as well Sakura. That's why I put you in Konoha, I'm sorry if…" Hanae stopped.

Sakura just nodded, she understood what she meant.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto ran to Sakura, he was relieved that she wasn't hurt. The rest of the team followed Naruto and went to Sakura.

"So who is this person beside you? She said something about your father being dead? But isn't your father in Konoha right now?" Naruto was totally confused about it. But Sakura smiled at him.

"She is Chiba Hanae, the strongest priestess in Hidden Seed. She is my mother." Sakura said. Sasuke and her teacher were shocked to hear that, except for Naruto.

"Your mother? But I thought that your mother is in Hidden Leaf, and your last name is Haruno when did it changed to Chiba?" Naruto eyes turned into two lines, he was thinking deep, but he still couldn't get it.

"Chiba is my real family name…I was adopted by the Harunos." Sakura said.

Naruto was shocked to hear that, but his confusion started to fade. He started to see the whole picture.

"I'm sorry Sakura." Naruto said. The rest of her felt it too, but they just kept quiet about it. They always saw Sakura as a happy child, always cheerful in front of Sasuke. But no one knew that she hid her feelings. She turned to her mother.

"I will go back to Hidden Leaf, are you going to come with me?" 

Hanae shook her head.

"I've left Hidden Seed for so long, so it's time for me to take my position and protect the village again." Hanae said, Sakura must have inherited her personality from her, because Hanae was trying to hide her feelings too.

"I will come visit you during the weekends. Then you can meet my mother…" Sakura stopped. She felt uneasiness saying this in front of Hanae.

"Sakura!" Hanae couldn't help but hold her in her arms. Sakura felt the warmth from her mother. She had wished for this to happen for so long…to see her real mother again, and smell her scent. 

"Mom." The tears kept on falling down Sakura's face.

After they left Hanae, it was already morning and they were tired, but they carried on traveling back to Konoha. They arrived there finally during the afternoon. After they reported back to the Hokage, they started leaving the building.

"Are you going to be okay, Sakura-chan?" Naruto was worried.

"It's okay, I'm not sad about it. After all, I'm not like people who have no past at all." Sakura said, smiling to Naruto. She didn't want anyone to worry about her. 

Then Naruto remembered how he hasn't seen his parents before. He turned his head and found Sasuke standing there with his head down looking at the ground. _And that jerk there, his family were all killed by his brother_. Naruto turned his back to Sakura.
    
    "I understand. Do you want to go to the Ramen store with me?" Naruto asked. He wanted a date with Sakura.

"Haha no, I'd rather go home and get some sleep. See you tomorrow!" With that, she left.

TBC…

Author Notes: That is almost the end of the story, but then I kept on having more ideas to put into this fanfic. Well I'll see what I can do, please review if you have any comments? Hehe give yourself credit again if you read my author notes *clapping*


	4. When Sakuras Bloom

**Hidden Seed**

Written by: Wa Edited by: Ai

Chapter 4: When Sakuras Bloom

_"The Nine Tail Fox demon had appeared in history twice. The first time, he was defeated by the Origin of the Hidden Seed. The Origin was the one they called 'Legend' who had a four petal seal on his back. Many generations of Hidden Seed were powerful people. They were called the Hidden Seeds because their powers were unknown; it grew with them through lifetime. Most of them had more then one petal on their seal. Around thirty years ago, the power of the Legend was passed down to a priestess."_

Sakura flipped the page.

_"She was very powerful and she was the only one who had the same seal as the Legend. She had four petals on her back. It was mentioned that the Hidden Seed with three petals needed ten strong priests to defeat. Four petals hidden seed required more than a hundred priests to defeat. As for the five petals…"_

Sakura put her hand on her back and touched the place where her hidden seed seal was.

It had been two weeks since Sakura's team's visit to the Hidden Seed village. Her parents were surprised to hear from her that she found Hanae there. It was a day off from missions. Sakura tied up her hair into a short ponytail. She was wearing a sleeveless white top and the traditional fishnet top underneath. She sat on her balcony, leaning her arm on the balcony railings and supporting her head. She was reading a book about priestess again. 

_"As for the five petals…they are undefeatable." _She closed the book and sighed.

Her knowledge of priestess has grown so much. Although she wasn't going to be a priestess, the last time she went to visit Hanae, Sakura learned to do new hand seals. She held out her hand to the sun, her mother's crystal bracelet was shining under the sunlight. Sakura smiled. She had learned so many things that were important to her future and she was having new thoughts about her strength.

Meanwhile, Sasuke was walking to the direction of the Ramen shop. He saw Sakura on her balcony and he thought back to that night when she told him about her revenge for her father. It was similar to the goal that he had for his life which was killing his brother. He never doubted himself before. However, the idea of Sakura taking revenge on someone was what struck him. He had never thought of Sakura being physically strong. She was pure and innocent to him. The idea of her killing somebody gave him doubts.

"Sasuke-kun!?" Sakura said from her balcony, her surprised expression turned into a frown as she remembered what she found out yesterday. 

"Wait I'm going to come down." She said in a hurry, she ran down the stairs and slipped into her sandals. She opened the door and Sasuke was still standing there.

"I'm glad, you are still here." 

Sakura's casual wear made him blush but he distracted his thoughts of her.

"What do you want, Sakura?" He still managed to be as cold as before.

Sakura gave him a faint smile as she held out something to him.

"What is this?" He asked.

"Hanae, she taught me a little trick last time. And this is just a safety and good luck charm that I've made for you. Keep it, you'll need it." She said, handing him a little bag that has Japanese traditional sewing patterns on it.

"Hn." He took it.

She watched him leave, her faint smile disappeared from her face and she slowly walked back into her house. She remembered the fortune telling trick Hanae had taught her last time. The special fortune telling was for family and friend's safety and health. She was practicing the special jutsu last night. However, the result shocked her.

The result she got was that Sasuke was going to leave the village and join the sound ninjas a month later. She knew that she couldn't stop him so she prayed luck and safety for him and gave him the little bag.

She has discovered so much after the lessons Hanae had given her. She was not the same girl anymore, and from the moment that she found out Sasuke was going to leave, she thought about so many things. She discovered that the "love at first sight" she had for Sasuke was already gone. She didn't know if the feeling she has right now for him is a deeper kind of love or just care for a friend.

_But as mother said, everybody has their own destiny. Sasuke's departure would be a chance for him to learn about himself and what true strength is…but the mistakes that he made…he maybe not be able to withstand the consequences after. Someday, Naruto may leave to explore the world too. And I would be the only one left in this village, protecting it…that is my destiny and my dream._

After that day, everything went by very fast. And tonight, just as Sakura had estimated, was Sasuke's departure. She knew very well that, now, she had to see him one very last time. Since it would be long years after she could see him again. She walked on the street alone and she met him on his way to the gate. They were now standing in front of a bench, the lamp light near the bench cast sinister shadows on Sasuke's tired face.

"You are leaving." Sakura started.

"Hnn."

"You know that very well, there would be consequence to suffer after."

Sasuke didn't bother to answer, but Sakura continued, even if it was destiny.

"And you know that you are going to be all alone again. You know very well what true loneliness is…why are you still stepping into the darkness? Once you leave, there's no turning back."

"I already know."

"You are still going to risk it?"

"Sakura, you know that you are not capable of fighting me. And you don't want to fight me either."

"Why are you risking your life just for revenge?"

"You don't know one bit of it."

"I saw the future already… what you really desire is power. You want to kill your brother because you were afraid ¾ you were so afraid that night. You were afraid of death. From that day on you craved for power just so you could show off to Itachi and kill him. In the chuunin exam, you saved me, only because you wanted to show your power, because you didn't want team seven to be a disgrace for you. You beat up the Sound enemy...not because you were angry that he hurt me, but because he hurt the reputation of team seven."

"So you are trying to understand me now?" Sasuke said in a dangerous voice, the curse seal was moving on his body now.

"Sasuke, you know very well that I can do anything if I'm determined to." Sakura said, looking at his seal…and a face that belonged to a monster.

"I warn you for the last time, stay out of my way. If you interfere, I won't hold back."

Sakura held out her Shurikens already, she death glared into Sasuke's dark eyes. 

_I never thought of fighting you Sasuke… But… if you leave the village and join Orochimaru's group. I will fight you._

She threw out the Shurikens but Sasuke easily dodged them. Sasuke smirked, just as he expected. Sakura was using common ninja jutsu, which would have no effect on him.

"Sakura, didn't you learn from the fight towards the sound nins that you have no chance using common jutsu."

"Fine." Sakura held out her right hand, Sasuke saw the bracelet glowing on her hand.

"I've seen your jutsu before Sakura, and I can find a solution to defeat that jutsu." Sasuke said closing his eyes, and opening it again. But now his eyes were red.

Sakura used the hidden seed no jutsu on Sasuke, tree roots sprang out from the ground and attacked Sasuke. He jumped up and dodged all the roots. He smirked. Sakura then used the second level of hidden seed jutsu, which was Air. Sasuke widened his eyes as he saw a tornado coming towards him, slashing up all the dust and mud from the ground. He didn't know that there would be a second level in this jutsu. He used Lighting Edge to blocked it.

_Why is she fighting me like this? Why is she so determined? Why is she risking her life over me?_

Just before Sakura's tornado was going to break through the barriers of Sasuke's lightning edge, her seal started to burn. She felt great pain on her back. She withdrew from the fight. However, Sasuke's couldn't stop, chakra kept on being sucked out from his palm. He must have been pushing himself too hard. The big round lightning chakra he formed on his palm went out of his control and went towards Sakura by the wind, which was sucking it into her direction.

"SAKURA!" Sasuke ran towards her, trying to push her away from the attack. Fortunately he was on time, he pushed her down and dodged the attack. He backed up and saw the painful expression she had on her face.

"…….." Sasuke recalled what had happened, he felt stupid to attack someone when he tried so hard to save her from his attack.

"Why?" 

"Why do you try so hard, why are you fighting me?" Sasuke asked, he held Sakura in his arms.

"Orochimaru ¾ you know what his ambition is…you know it but you think about your power. Then if you desire it that much, I'll be your first victim. Then you will truly become cold and emotionless."

Sasuke stared at Sakura, he leaned down to her and did something that she thought he would have never done. He kissed her on the lips. She tried to push him away, but he was holding on to her so tightly that she couldn't escape. Then suddenly the painful burn that was coming from the seal happened again. Sakura fainted, and that was the reason why when she woke up, she couldn't remember if the kiss from Sasuke was only a dream or not.

The next day, a Ninja on patrol found Sakura sleeping on the bench covered with a blanket. And this is how it all began.

She woke up from the hospital bed and saw the rose that was put into the vase near her bed. She felt her back, that painful experience of the seal burning was gone. She went into the bathroom and look at her back, the four petal seal turned into a five petal seal. The seal that was white before turned into pink. It looked just like when a Sakura bloomed. 

Sakura stared in the mirror…

_¾__ As for Five Petals Hidden Seed, they are undefeatable __¾_

"Sakura! Where are you?" Sakura heard her mother's voice.

"I'm here." Sakura came out to the bathroom and faced Mrs Haruno. 

"Oh how are you Sakura? I was so shocked when I heard that you were in the hospital this morning. I thought you were on a mission last night when you didn't come home." Mrs Haruno said.

"Mom, I have to get to the Hidden Seed village right now." Sakura said.

"Oh…. But I think the 5th Hokage wants a word with you." Ms Haruno said, thinking about Hanae.

"I see, well I'll get to her first. Don't worry mom, I'll explain everything once I get back." Sakura waved.

Her mother sighed, she stayed in the room, helping Sakura to pack her things.

Sakura walked down the hall to the fifth Hokage's office, she knocked on the door before she went inside. The fifth turned to her and greeted her with a very serious tone.

"Sakura, how are you?"

"I'm alright, do you want to see me because of Sasuke?" Sakura asked, getting straight to the point.

"Yes, I just want to know what happened last night." The fifth said.

Sakura nodded and started talking about her taking a walk at night and the whole incident of Sasuke's departure.

"I see…he must be joining with the Orochimaru group."

"What action are you going to take?" Sakura asked.

"You are very edgy about this aren't you?" The fifth told Sakura. But she sighed when Sakura just glared at her. There's no point of not telling her at this time, the fifth thought.

"I'm going to send a group of Chuunin mixed with Genin to find him."

"Sasuke, is probably with lots of powerful people right now. I've observed the previous attack tactic of Orochimaru. He usually would use his best four bodyguards to help him. And those four people are probably the ones that Sasuke's with right now." Sakura was telling the Fifth of her analysis.

"I see, but I don't think that the chuunin would let the village down either. After all, he is Shikamaru." The fifth told her as Sakura stared at her.

"As for you Sakura, I've been informed by your teacher what happened in the Hidden Seed village. You'll be heading back there as your mission right now."

TBC

Author notes: Sorry for this late update again, I finished writing this chapter long time ago, but I had to wait for Ai to finish up the editing. Then when my Dad was cleaning up my computer, he deleted all the html files because there were viruses. But he didn't let me clean up the files first so all my html got deleted. I was very depressed about it, luckily Ai send me back this file so I didn't lost this. Another thing is that I read this fanfic on Fanfiction.net and just realized how similar the petals seed was…sorry but I never knew that there was that fanfic out there. But I guess that the topic that we were talking about is different so there should be no conflict. Thanks for reading the author notes, and for sending me great reviews!


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